taliban fighters raise their flag in the center of kunduz while in fighting of forces is hindering the fight back. ♪ hello, you are watching al jazeera and also ahead the u.n. secretary-general condemns air strikes that reportedly killed up to 135 people at a wedding in yemen. typhoon makes landfall in eastern china after causing chaos in taiwan. shell pulls out of the arctic, good news for the environment, look at what made them quit.

♪ in afghanistan taliban fighters are firing missiles at the main airport of the northern city of kunduz where security forces are stationed, the city was seized by taliban fighters in the early morning rain on monday and first stephanie decker has details. >> there are no government troops left here and taliban fighters in control of large parts of kunduz city and here they are raising their flag in the city square and this battle is not over, the afghan government announced a major operation to recapture kunduz. >> translator: in the first place we should take care of the civilian casualties and the enemy has heavy damage including air strikes and operations, i don't want to go into detail of the operations.

>> reporter: special forces have been brought in and the u.s. military confirmed an air strike on the outskirts of the city on tuesday morning. it is proving difficult for some reenforcements to reach kunduz because the taliban set up boobie traps along the way and they broke from the prison releasing hundreds of inmates including taliban fighters and commanders issued a statement telling residents not to worry and to go about their daily lives and it will be difficult for the major military operation underway. it's one of the most significant territorial gains taliban fighters have made since 2001 when their government was deposed by the u.s. led invasion. it coincides with ashraf ghani's first anniversary of president and they face the taliban alone after u.s. and nato troops pulled out last year, antiterrorism effort remains and

it's the boldest by the taliban to take more control of the country, a strong message to whoever is watching that 14 years after being deposed and battling coalition and afghan forces the taliban can still take control over a major city in less than 24 hours, stephanie decker, al jazeera. well, going back to our top story in kunduz airport where afghan security forces are station is being hit by missiles by the taliban and we are on the line from afghanistan which is south of the city of kunduz, how is the counter offensive going then? >> we are here with the afghan security forces with the army and special forces and hundreds of armored vehicle are stuck here, afghan officers here telling me there is a lack of leadership and lack of coordination among the afghan forces and that is why they cannot advance and also in the morning they tried to advance to

kunduz and they were ambushed by taliban and they lost two soldiers and we know there are two soldiers and injured in the morning attack and there is not much movement but they are talking about a plan to attack or to advance to kunduz at evening time. >> what about inside kunduz, what is e -- emerging from what you are hearing? >> they are telling us just in the last hour or so the taliban are using the much loved speaker to the people of kunduz that come and start your normal lives and asking people to come and open their shops and saying they will be here for a long time and we are hearing from afghan security forces that they are at the airport as you said and the attack there, they tried to enter kunduz city, the airport

in the city but they face a very heavy fight from taliban. >> all right, thanks for the update there. the u.n. secretary-general is condemning air strikes which have reportedly killed up to 135 people at a wedding in yemen and these are believed to be the first pictures from the scene of a village near the red sea port and they are from the houthi rebel television station. we are unable to verify them though and saudi arabia which is leading the military campaign against houthi fighters denies involvement. houthi station aired a number of people who say they witnessed the air strike. >> translator: what target, you hit wedding, a wedding tent with women and children inside, all civilians, 131 of them, so what strategic targets are you talking about? >> live for us in saudi arabia

and that is the narrative coming out of houthi t.v. and what are you hearing from saudi officials? >> well, the spokesman for the saudi-led coalition said this is absolutely false and he said the coalition didn't carry out air strikes in the area for the last three days and he also put some suspicion surrounding the entire incident and says it's a clear situation in yemen with a lot of armed forces and he says basically witnesses or people that can distinguish between means of explosions and said you can't blame every explosion to the coalition forces so basically the saudi-led coalition and the spokesperson denied their involvement in this incident, sammy. >> all right, what about the fighting inside yemen, can we

talk a little bit about where that is leaving key places? >> yes, it's an oil-rich city and we understand that there is heavy fighting there of the coalition launches a few air strikes using war planes as well as helicopters and that gave the forces loyal to the president abd rabbuh mansur hadi known as the popular resistance as well as the new yemen army made gains and took parts of a strategic area and controlled a road used by houthi as a supply road and we understand they are advancing in that front. of course, it's to the east of sanaa so the next target would probably be to advance further towards the capitol sanaa. there is also fighting in thai and the houthi fighters have sustained a high number of casualties including forces who are fighting with them and those

forces are loyal to the former president saleh. >> iran's president is accusing saudi arabia of incompetence of the hajj stampede disaster and the slow saudi response as various countries struggle to identify their dead and foreign diplomates given 1100 photos of the dead and officials say 769 pilgrims died and have not explained the discrepancy in the casualty totals. >> translator: i'm speaking on behalf of a great nation who is mourning the loss of thousands of muslim pilgrims and hundreds of its own citizens who had come together in the grand and global spiritual gathering of the hajj but unfortunately fell victims to the incompetence and miss

management of those in charge, due to their unaccountability even the missing cannot be identified and the expeditious return of the bodies of the deceased to their mourning families has been prevented. leaders of russia and united states met on the sidelines of the u.n. general assembly in new york, barack obama and vladimir putin agreed a solution must be found to the syrian conflict, however they disagreed on the role of president bashar al-assad going forward. >> yes, realism dictates compromise will be required to end the fighting and ultimately stamp out i.s.i.l. but realism also requires a managed transition, a way from assad and to a new leader. and an inclusive government that recognizes there must be an end to this chaos so the syrian people can begin to rebuild. >> translator: we propose discussing whether it's possible to agree on a resolution aimed at coordinating the actions of all the forces that confront

i.s.i.l. and other terrorist organizations. once again this coordination should be based on the principles of the u.n. charter. russia president vladimir putin to ramp up support to syria is proving uncomfortable with many russians who still remember the disaster in afghanistan and peter sharp reports from moscow. >> these satellite images of assad air base show the expansion of the military foot print in syria and latest reports say an airforce regimen with 28 fighter jets has now been deployed along with a significant amount of m 24 attack helicopters, uncomfortable reminders the last time russia fought a war 4,000 kilometers from moscow and russia's ten year battle in afghanistan ended in a pull out in 1989 and cost the lives of

more than 14,000 troop, this was russia's vietnam with d disillusionment and betrayal and talks about deployment in afghanistan, bitter how his comrades have been treated. >> translator: we were forgotten and still forgotten and fulfilled our international duty and did for the mother land what it as usual had ordered us to do, as patriots we fulfilled our duty and many guys, most of the guys are now unhappy because of the war and they are drink or disabled and the state doesn't pay attention to any of them. >> reporter: there are few monuments to the war in afghanistan, just one in the hole of moscow. those who lost loved ones in the conflict don't need reminders. her cousin was shot down in his helicopter. >> translator: he died a slow death and the boys who got out of the helicopter were tortured and his death was a great sorrow

oa and why i'm against the deployment, very much against and this is going to be a second afghanistan. >> reporter: critics of the president says putin miss judged the mood of many in the country as he ups military support for the syrian army. >> translator: soviet union was totalitarian state and our president is copying soviet ways and makes decisions personally or with a small number of advisors so there is a high probability of deployment of russian troops. >> reporter: after his meeting with president obama putin ruled out involvement of russian troops on the ground but says he is considering possible air strikes. as high-level weapons continue to pour into syria from russia, its critics here are worried that another afghanistan adventure is not lying further down the road, peter sharp, al jazeera, in moscow. the u.n. says more than half a million refugees arrived in

the mediterranean this year and will discuss this in a few hours and the european commission president and french prime minister emmanuel will meet in paris, thousands of refugees meanwhile are being cueing up at the croatia/serbia border traveling north to eu countys and 100 buses carrying refugees have arrived at the serbia town and croatia government says over 70,000 people have entered the country in the past few days. still to come on al jazeera, a sanctuary for creatures from the deep and part of the ocean gets protection. and we explain why america's largest family planning organization is under scrutiny. ♪

>> al jazeera america, weekday mornings. catch up on what happened overnight with a full morning brief. get a first hand look with in-depth reports and

investigations. start weekday mornings with al jazeera america. open your eyes to a world in motion. welcome back, let's recap our headlines here on al jazeera now. [gunfire] afghanistan taliban fighters firing missiles at the airport in the northern city of kunduz and halted on the way to the city debating on who should lead the retaliation. the u.n. secretary-general is condemning air strikes in southern yemen which reportedly killed up to 135 people at a wedding, the saudi-led coalition which has been bombing yemen for months denies involvement and these pictures are from houthi t.v. and we are unable to verify them. u.s. president barack obama and russian president vladimir putin

held their first formal meeting in two years, came on the sidelines of the u.n. general assembly dissolving the syrian conflict was top of the agenda. let's return now to afghanistan as the fighting continues in the northern city of kunduz and the president also have to contend with growing discontent among people, it's a year since he took power and unemployment is increasing, security is weakening, as jennifer glasse reports many afghans are not happy with the government's performance. >> reporter: his brooms sell for about 80 cents a piece and business is terrible and many of his customers cannot pay their bills. last year he had great expectations for ghani's government and now he says it's the worst of times. >> translator: i have to take

my children out of school to work and i wanted my children to be educated but i need them to help support the family. >> reporter: ghani vowed to fight corruption to help afghanistan stand on its own feet and the country is heavily dependent on foreign aid and promises to support women's rights and his wife has taken a program nen role rare for an f afghan first lady and the government says it's making progress and afghans say they don't see it. >> translator: we have not seen any support of women's rights, and there is actually more violence and women without education sit at home and no work for him. the youth of the country already fled. there is nothing left for the people. >> reporter: afghans leaving in record numbers because they can't find work or worried about security and deadly suicide attacks in the heavily fortified afghan cap old-capitol and they died or were injured in the

eight months of 2015, 30% increase over last year. >> on the security side the afghan security forces try to have a high number of casualties which is not sustainable in the long-term and politically the government is not functioning. >> it took the government nearly six months to agree on cabinet numbers and political infighting between president ghani and chief executive abdullah, abdullah and important positions defense minister is unfilled with acting security minister making decisions, afghan president asked the afghan people to be patient and change takes time and things will get worse before they get better but this time last year he had two things heing la -- he has now is momentum and support. executed a man who said he was 15 when he was arrested and sentenced in 1996 for murder, a

crime he always denied and wasn't registered at birth but presented school documents at his trial. and pakistani law prohibits the execution of juvenile. intelligence group which looks at on line activity says i.s.i.l. is responsible for killing an italian aid worker in bangladesh and gunmen on the motor bike shot him in the diplomatic zone of the capitol dacca and u.s. and british diplomates are following this after monday night's murder. ports are closed and flights cancelled after the typhoon hit the southern coast of china and struck the province on tuesday morning with speeds of up to 119 kilometers per hour. the typhoon struck china after leaving a trail of damage across taiwan and three people were killed and more than 300 injured and we have more from the capitol taipei. >> reporter: we are in taipei's biggest train station just a day

after typhoon struck taiwan operations here have gone back to normal, although businesses are still closed as well as schools and offices, most of the roads have been cleared of debris and more than 7,000 people were evacuated in preparation for the typhoon. the mayor said they are prefa pd but it's hard to asses the damage and if you look how quick the government responded it's how other countries should also respond in disasters like this one. more than 300,000 are still without power but most of the 7,000 have been evacuated and are now able to return to their homes. by the end of today the typhoon has already left taiwan's area of responsibility and it's just a matter of time before every operation here is back to normal as well. 500 inmates that escaped from a prison in the central african republic and the jail

break in the capitol bongi follows three days of fighting and more than 40 people have been fighting in retaliatory attacks between christian and muslim fighters and forced the interim president to fly home early from the u.n. general assembly in new york. the latest unrest has led to protests calls for the redeployment of arms forces and u.n. backed interim government is yet to rearm the military, the army was sidelines after muslim seleka rebels ceased power two years ago. shell abandon its search for oil in the arctic, the company says it was not able to find enough oil and gas to continue. the company's plans to drill in the arctic have provoked opposition from environmentalists as we explain. >> shell get out of the way. >> reporter: it wasn't just environmentalists who were opposed to shell's arctic drilling plans and shareholders

say the huge cost of drilling made little sense at a time of low oil prices and u.s. department of interior said there was 75% chance of a major oil spill if drilling began in the sea with devastating consequences for wildlife and the eco system but that didn't stop the obama administration granting shell a permit to drill. even though the company had been forced to abandon drilling operations in 2012 because of a series of accidents and miss management. shell executives are reported to have been taken aback at the level of protests this summer and activists swarmed around shell vessels leaving port going to the arctic drawing international attention and environmentalists are now declaring a victory. >> a strong foundation has been built nationally and regionally in the alaska and the pacific northwest to stop this particular project but also realize there are other companies that may be interested in other areas other than just specifically the sea which is where shell was so we are really

hopeful this foundation will move forward to make more permanent protections for the arctic. >> reporter: this is the final cost of shell's failed arctic plans could be around $9 billion but investors concerned of low ail prices and talks on climate change it makes sense to take the loss. >> oil stays where it is and i don't think you will find viable drilling operations ever frankly. >> reporter: holds 20% of the world's undiscovered resources and scientists say the oil needs to remain untouched if climate change is to be limited and norway suspended their arctic plans and in 2012 they pulled out of the arctic's barren sea and virmentellists hope with the latest failure big oil will finally leave the arctic alone,

al jazeera. the president of one of america's largest family planning organization will testify before congress in a few hours, planned parenthood ouses 500 million in taxpayer funds and could lose funding after a series of under cover videos shows staff discussing the sale of aborted fetal tissue and kimberly reports from washington. >> reporter: they came to capitol hill with a message for members of congress, don't defund planned parenthood. many working class americans it's their only access to affordable healthcare and she was in graduate school suffering endometriosis. >> looking to get a job and not going to be able to study for this one reason so planned parenthood, i was able to get the medication. >> reporter: she turned to

planned parenthood seven years ago after finding a lump in her breast. >> planned parenthood was my first contact with getting my first breast cancer screening and it saved my life. >> reporter: not everyone in congress sees planned parenthood as benevolent organization and health clinics also provide aborti abortions violating the religious beliefs of others and comfort of others after videos exposed planned parenthood discussing aborted fetal tissue for profit. >> particular tissues like, you know, cardiac or they want eyes or they want neural. >> reporter: many in congress were incensed and threatened to shut down the government if federal dollars continued to support the clinics and the head of planned parenthood has been called to testify before is a congressional committee and they are pushing to end the organization's federal funding.

>> with such a lack of dignity for the human person if that was a baby whose life was taken through abortion they were seen as a commodity and harvesting little hearts, little lungs, little livers for cost. >> reporter: but many in congress say the hearing is nothing more than attack on reproductive choices and going on since it was legalized in 1973. >> what is really under attack is the right of women to control their own bodies, their own reproduction, their own reproduction and their own reproductive health. >> reporter: she agrees and says she came to tell congress abortions are just a small part of what planned parenthood does and because of her medical condition her chance at motherhood would never have happened without its support, kimberly with al jazeera, washington. now scientists at nasa say they found strong evidence of flowing water on mars. it is a historic finding that raises the prospect that life

could exist on the red planet and nasa managers say the latest discovery leaves many mysteries unresolved and still don't know where the water comes from or whether salt is the only thing in it. whales, dolphins, sharks and all sort of sea life to be protected off the coast of new zealand and fishing being bone ban in the south pacific and gerald tan has the details. >> reporter: the region is one of the most isolated places on earth, hundreds of marine species in the water and some are unique and some endangered. >> this is probably one of the most significant announcements because this is one of the last pristine sides in the oceans being preserved because this is an area that is uninhabited by humans and it's such a large area. >> reporter: new zealand has

plans for the sand war during his visit to the u.n. sanctuary and encompass 620,000 kilometers. >> area twice the size of our land mass and 50 times the size of our largest national park and it is truly a special place and we want to keep it that way. >> the announcement gained immediate attention. >> just over an hour ago with the united nations the prime minister of new zealand john key made an announcement we can all celebrate. >> reporter: not everybody is celebrating, mining, and fishing are now ban from the area and some industries are up set and the government says the benefits outway the cost. >> i'm confident most people would say actually that is i lost economically and well worthwhile for a global contribution to environmental protection in the ocean. >> reporter: new zealand says the area will be policed using satellite data and defense force

patrols and new laws to come in force in the next year to protect the region for again rayes to come. gerald tan, al jazeera. and if you want to keep up to date with all those stories we have been telling you about just head over to al jazeera.com. a tense meeting between president obama and putin ends with an agreement to try to evened the crisis in syria, but little common ground on how to get it done. granite state appears to have the votes to keep government going through december but republican lawmakers say they will not stop fighting planned parenthood. a powerful typhoon hits mainland china after kill at least three people and leaving tens of thousands without pow